FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – One person was hospitalized Thursday morning following a crash in Fort Lauderdale involving an SUV and a Coca-Cola tractor-trailer, authorities said.
The crash was reported around 6:30 a.m. in the westbound lanes of State Road 84 near Interstate 95.
According to Fort Lauderdale police, a vehicle rear-ended the tractor-trailer.
“We arrive to find an SUV had rear-ended a Coca-Cola truck, wedging itself under the back-end of the truck,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesman Frank Guzman said.
Paramedics said the man inside the SUV was trapped inside and badly hurt.
“We had to call out our Technical Rescue Team to arrive on scene to try and extricate the man from the vehicle,” Guzman said.
Photos from fire rescue show the badly damaged vehicle after the doors were ripped out during the rescue process. Crews used special equipment in the process.
After a half-hour long effort, the team was successful in getting the man out and rushing him to Broward Health Medical Center’s trauma center for treatment.
“We do want to commend the actions of our firefighters this morning -- that Technical Rescue Team got them out of the vehicle in under 30 minutes, which could potentially save his life,” Guzman said.